World Economic Forum: Global Risks 2014

According to the World Economic Forum’s Global Risks 2014 report, the chronic gap between the incomes of the richest and poorest citizens is seen as the risk that is most likely to cause serious damage globally in the coming decade.

The report, produced by Marsh & McLennan Companies, Swiss Re, and Zurich Insurance Group, as well as the National University of Singapore, Oxford Martin School at the University of Oxford, and the Wharton Risk Management and Decision Processes Center at the University of Pennsylvania, assesses 31 risks that could have a significant global impact.

The risks are grouped into five classifications, economic, environmental, geopolitical, societal, and technological, and measured in terms of their likelihood, seriousness, and potential impact. In addition, the report includes investigations into three specific cases:

• The increasing risk of “cybergeddon” in the online world.
  
• The growing complexity of geopolitical risk as the world moves to a multipolar distribution of power.
  
• Youth unemployment and underemployment.